Spate of crashes in region over Xmas

Theaftermath of a crash on Ngongotaha Rd on Christmas Day. Photo / Stephen Parker

A Rotorua woman remains in a critical but stable condition in Middlemore Hospital in Auckland after a serious crash in Rotorua on Christmas Day.

It was one of a spate of crashes in the district over the past few days. Two people were killed in another, two-car, crash on State Highway 1 south of Tokoroa just after 1pm on Saturday. The names of those two dead have yet to be released.

Yesterday, police and other emergency services were at the scene of a crash at the intersection of State Highway 28 and State Highway 5 at Tapapa in the South Waikato District.

Three vehicles were involved and ambulance staff dealt with a total of 10 patients, one of whom had serious injuries.

All were taken to Waikato Hospital via ambulance with the road closed for a short time, while the scene was cleared. The road had re-opened by 5pm.

When the Rotorua Daily Post went to print, a total of 373 crashes had been reported across the country during the official holiday period, with four dead.

The Christmas Day crash on Ngongotaha Rd about 4.30pm saw a woman critically injured and two others seriously hurt.

The woman was trapped and had to be removed by fire service staff. Her front-seat passenger also suffered serious injuries. The sole occupant of the other car also suffered a serious arm injury. The road was closed for about two hours.

Those crashes were preceded by two serious crashes near Taupo on Christmas Eve where one person was flown to Waikato Hospital in a critical condition after a two-car crash at Hatepe, between Turangi and Taupo, about 3.15pm.

And, about 4.30pm, three vehicles were involved in a crash near the intersection of Ohaaki Rd and Te Toke Rd, about 20km northeast of Taupo.

Five people were injured, and one was left in a critical condition.